PARIS, October 20. /TASS/. Western countries, which have been trying to isolate Russia in the global arena due to the Ukrainian conflict for two years now, risk putting themselves on an island by supporting Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, according to the Le Monde newspaper.
"The ferocity of Israel's response and the support it receives from Western capitals weakens the foundation on which the West's rhetoric on Ukraine, where Russia is accused of not complying with international law and war crimes, stands. Comparing Russia and Israel's actions is not a stretch, although Western countries refuse to put them on the same level. Thus, the different treatment of war crimes revives the discourse <...> about the West's 'double standards' and 'hypocrisy'," the newspaper says.
Among other things, the refusal to pass a Russian resolution in the UN Security Council condemning the killing of civilians and calling for a peaceful settlement was mentioned. "Such a move could put the West in the uncomfortable position of having to veto a text calling for de-escalation - a win for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," the authors of the publication said.
The newspaper, quoting unnamed European diplomatic sources, said that the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was a "gift from heaven" and "good luck" for Moscow in its confrontation with the collective West. This manifested itself both in the forced shift of media attention to the new conflict and in the general "weakening of the Western position on Ukraine."
"This is not just about the Ukrainian problem being relegated to the background on TV. It is about the efforts made by the West since February 2022 to isolate Russia and bring countries of the Global South to its side. These efforts, which have been relatively successful, are now being undermined by both public opinion and the governments of several countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Isolation threatens <...> the Western bloc," the newspaper states.
Polarization of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
Le Monde draws attention to the "abandonment of Russia's inherently neutral position" on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, which allegedly showed up in Putin's phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only a week after the attack on Israeli cities. The absence of statements about "terrorism" by the Palestinian Hamas movement is noted. The newspaper attributes this to a desire to "strengthen as much as possible the heterogeneous anti-Western front" and "focus on internal splits in the Western camp."
"The Russians expect that by supporting Hamas, they will draw closer to a number of countries in the Global South and benefit in the Ukrainian theater of operations," the newspaper quotes a source in the Elysee Palace as saying.
And although the publication writes that Ukraine, in order to demonstrate its affinity for the West, immediately supported Israel, the authors believe that "Kiev's full support for Israel could come back to bite it." "The Global South may wonder: why support Ukraine if it expresses commitment to only one side without condemning Israeli strikes or expressing sympathy for Palestinian victims," said Tatiana Kastoueva-Jean of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).